


Not Even Unrequited

by GlitraHasConsumedMe



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Crushes, Dorks in Love, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Not Actually Unrequited Love, uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 03:53:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitraHasConsumedMe/pseuds/GlitraHasConsumedMe
Summary: For my friend pinksunshinewrites on her birthday, a little bit of Glimbow (her otp). Happy birthday!! <3Check out her Glimbow story, Life Can Be Beautiful!!!
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow & Perfuma (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Glimmer & Perfuma (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 15





	Not Even Unrequited

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pinksunshinewrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinksunshinewrites/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy, birthday girl (:

Glimmer watched from afar as Bow and Entrapta talked excitedly about the newest tech he had been working on. Bow really is the smartest guy- smartest person- she knows.

He glanced her way and waved in a quick, frantic way with his genuine Bow smile only he could manage, making Glimmer's heart warm at the sight.

She had no idea when she'd developed these feelings for her best friend. Had they always been there, or were they just developing now that they were older, more mature?

Glimmer had first noticed that her feelings went beyond friendship when she heard Bow had asked Perfuma to the Princess Prom. Her chest had ached and she knew she wasn't feeling the way a normal friend would feel when a friend told them they were bringing a date to the prom.

They had only grown since then, these bittersweet feelings. But the warmth these feelings gave her were always accompanied by a certain anxiety; that her love was unrequited.

How embarrassing it would be for Glimmer, to work up the courage to confess just for Bow to flash her a sympathetic smile and apologise but, "He just doesn't feel the same".

She'd said the same phrase over and over to herself, sure that Bow only saw her as a friend. Of _course_ there would be people better suited for him, people he would get along with better as romantic partners or who he _must_ find more attractive than the short, stocky, _sparkly_ Queen of Brightmoon.

"Hey Glimmer!" Bow snapped her from her daze with his pep, causing her heart to skip a beat as she eased into a grin as well. Bow just had that effect on her, able to put a smile on her face no matter what her worries were in a manner of seconds.

"Hey Bow, what's up?" She asked, noticing the sparkle in his eye. He must want to show her something.

"I wanted to show you this new type of arrow Entrapta helped me with!" He said excitedly.

Glimmer smiled and nodded as he held out his hand for her to take. She silently sucked in a tight breath as she took his hand in hers, trying not to blush. Bow's hands were so strong and soft and felt perfect in her own, she had to force her thoughts away before she could imagine those hands cupping her cheeks while bringing her in for a kiss. She couldn't think like that, Bow was her friend; her _best_ friend.

She watched as Bow began rambling and ranting about his new piece of equipment, his mouth moving quickly with an explanation she didn't understand. That was fine, Glimmer would gladly stand around for hours listening to Bow talk about anything; especially things that made him this excited and happy.

The queen often wondered if she ever inspired such joy from the boy she loved, if she could ever be the cause of the spark in his eyes. Her heart fluttered and ached at the thought that seemed so far away.

"So, what do you think?" Bow finally asked as Glimmer grinned even though she was lost in more ways than one.

"It's great, Bow." She nodded, melting as she watched his grin grow impossibly wider and his eyes shine cheerfully. Stars, did she have it bad for this goof.

~~~

Bow was in love. He was in love and had no idea what to do with these feelings. Loving your best friend isn't very normal after all, right? He didn't think so, but what did he know? He'd never been in love before! Crushes, sure, but who _hasn't_ had their fair share? Had anyone even _seen_ Sea Hawk or Perfuma? Though of course neither couldn't _possibly_ begin to compare to the one he loved.

He watched from the balcony of his appointed room in the castle as Glimmer walked through the courtyard with Adora, both laughing and playfully nudging each other as they smiled at one another.

Bow loved Adora to bits, she was so sweet and loyal and sometimes innocent enough to make anyone squeal with cuteness. He wouldn't be surprised if she was the one to take Glimmer's heart, nor would he hold any ill will towards her.

Glimmer deserved to be happy with someone trustworthy and kind, and Adora fit both perfectly. They would make a cute couple, he thought with a sad smile. He knew that no matter who she chose that Bow would support Glimmer with all of his heart, as a best friend should.

Maybe that's why he had really taken Perfuma to the Princess Prom, not because he thought she was pretty- which he did, mind you- but because he knew he couldn't take the heartache of attending with Glimmer. It would feel too much like a date, and that would've hurt too much for him to handle knowing Glimmer couldn't possibly feel the same.

Bow was just her friend, and while Bow was happy to accept that and stay by her side that didn't mean it was always easy. Sometimes it hurt a little too much to bear, though he'd never let on to that; never expose his secret.

"Bow!" Glimmer beamed as she glanced up to notice him, turning to Adora to say something she couldn't quite hear.

The blonde nodded and smiled and suddenly Glimmer was up on his balcony, standing beside Bow with the same smile that always managed to tug at his heartstrings.

"Hey." She greeted with a bubbly little giggle.

"Hey." Bow greeted back with a smile, ignoring the tremolous feeling in his chest.

She suddenly grabbed his hand, a wave a tingly lightning crackling through his entire arm and down his spine all the way to his toes within a second of the action.

"Come with me." She said, a mischievous glint in her eyes that he knew he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to.

"Lead the way." Bow nodded, giving her hand as friendly of a squeeze as he could muster.

He braced himself as they teleported, glancing around once they arrived at their destination to see where Glimmer had brought him.

It was a tall cliff overlooking both the castle and the Whispering Woods, reflecting the sunset was a large lake in the distance that twinkled and shone with the light of it.

"Pretty cool, right? Adora found this place when she went out for a ride on Swift Wind." Glimmer said, smiling as she too glanced out over the ledge from his side. She slid down to her feet, legs dangling over the ledge and Bow slowly lowered himself to match.

"Cool." He agreed with a nod. His chest felt tight hearing that Adora had been the one to show Glimmer such a beautiful place, trying his best not to picture the two sharing a tender kiss right where he sat.

"She was telling me how to get here. I wanted the first time I saw it myself to be with you." She announced like it wasn't the best thing Bow had ever heard. "She was right, though. This place really is something."

Bow stared at her, transfixed. Why hadn't she just gone with Adora, let the blonde lead her here instead on a romantic hike or something? Had he been wrong, misreading their signals? Did Glimmer actually _not_ love Adora? But if so, then who?

"Hey, wanna play the question game?" He asked as a cover, recalling the silly game they'd invented back in their early teens to share secrets or learn new things about one another.

Glimmer tilted her head as she turned to look at him, crossing her legs with her hands in her lap. She furrowed her brows just enough to put a cute little crease between them- which took a lot of willpower not to reach over and smooth away with his thumb- and smiled curiously at him.

"The question game? What are we, thirteen?" His queen asked teasingly, giggling softly.

Bow chuckled and copied her sitting position, facing her fully with his legs crossed as he rested his elbows on his knees to lean forward slightly.

"What, is the great Queen Glimmer of Brightmoon too _mature_ for the question game now?" Bow teased back, earning a giggle as Glimmer grinned a bit cheekily at him.

"Fine fine. But I go first." She bargained, smirking again softly. "Did you really like those cupcakes Adora made the other day?"

Bow laughed and shook his head. "Not really. Don't tell her I said this, but I don't think baking is her strong suit."

They shared a laugh before sighing, grinning at each other. Boy, did he miss the closeness this game made him feel with Glimmer.

"Have you ever tried to play this game with Adora?" Bow asked next.

Glimmer shook her head with a smile. "No way, this is our game, you goof. I'm not just gonna play it with everyone."

He knew she probably didn't mean for it to come out that way, but he felt a bit happier hearing say that; that they had something together that no one else did. Even if it was just a silly kids game.

"Okay okay. Hmm..." Glimmer tilted her head in thought, reminding Bow of a kitten seeing a string and trying to figure out how high to jump in order to reach it. "Who was your first kiss?"

Bow chuckled nervously, rubbing his neck. It never _did_ take long for the questions to turn personal or embarrassing, not that either of them minded. They knew neither of them would ever reveal the secrets shared in their game with anyone but one another, after all.

"Kiss, or do you mean _kiss_ -kiss?" He asked for clarification.

"Both."

"Well... Sea Hawk kissed me once, but it was just on the corner of my lips." Bow tapped the spot for clarification. "As for kiss-kisses... I-I can't really say I've had any." He said softly with a shrug.

"Not even with Perfuma? Or Sea Hawk? Or what about a celebratory kiss from Entrapta?" Glimmer asked, looking a bit confused and surprised yet somehow relieved at the same time.

"What? No no no." Bow chuckled at her suggestions. There wasn't anyone he'd ever want to kiss as much as Glimmer, after all.

"Oh. Well, uh, your turn." Glimmer blushed softly in embarrassment at having jumped to conclusions, which of course Bow found freaking adorable.

"How about you? Who was your first kiss?" He asked in turn, trying not to let his heart completely shatter before she even answered.

Glimmer tensed, her eyes widening slightly. Bow chuckled, she really should've expected him to ask that.

"Um... It was Perfuma, actually." She looked away.

Bow's eyes blew wide at this knowledge. "What? When?" He squeaked out in disbelief. Since when- How did- When- What?!

Glimmer whined softly and buried her red face in her hands. "She got a little too excited after a battle and it just kind of happened. _Please_ don't say anything about it." She groaned.

Bow chuckled, because that's what friends do after hearing their friend had an embarrassing first kiss experience. They laugh and tease good-naturedly and offer their support.

"So you didn't like it?" He asked with a forced smirk, surprised how easy it came despite how awful he felt knowing Glimmer had kissed someone.

"Not really. I mean, I think we can both agree she's cute, but she's not really my type." Glimmer sighed once she was able to calm enough to speak in anything but embarrassed groans and whines, her blush dying down significantly.

"What is your type, then?" He asked, trying to surpress the hopeful tone in his voice.

"Nuh-uh. No way. You asked _two_ questions already, cheater. My turn." Glimmer pouted in an attractively endearing way.

"Fine fine." The archer held his hands up in surrender with a grin, closing his eyes as he did so to hide the sadness they surely would have revealed.

"Do you like any-"

"Hey guys!" Adora's voice interrupted as they both turned their heads towards the sound.

"H-Hey Adora." Glimmer greeted, blushing softly as she gave a half-hearted wave.

Bow hid his frustration at being interrupted, knowing it wasn't the blonde's fault because she didn't know she was intruding on their game. He just wish she'd decided to show up _after_ Glimmer's question. Now he was just confused. What was she trying to ask?

Glimmer had said 'like', was she trying to ask about crushes? They hadn't talked about such a subject in years, before Bow had any crushes to name. Though he did now; a rather big one on his queen.

"What're you guys doing?" Adora asked, plopping down between them to let her legs dangle and swing over the edge while the other two swivled back to their previous positions facing the same direction overlooking the cliff's edge.

"Oh, we were just talking." Glimmer hummed.

"Ah, about what?" Adora grinned.

"Nothing really. Just small talk." Glimmer shrugged.

Adora seemed to be fine with that answer, because after that a serene silence filled the space between the three of them.

Glancing over, Bow was once again reminded of what a nice couple Adora and Glimmer would surely make if and when they started dating- if they hadn't already started dating without telling him, that is.

But he was fine with that. Because he was Glimmer's best and oldest friend. That's all he'd ever be, and that was fine.

Really, it was.

~~~

Glimmer sat up in her room, sighing as she stared up at the ceiling.

The war was over, Adora had made sure of that when she defeated Prime after the final battle. Yet she still couldn't seem to find the same joy everyone around her felt.

What was missing? What did they all have that she didn't?

Then it hit her: _love_. Seemingly everyone had coupled up after the war- everyone but Glimmer, it felt. She knew she wasn't the only one without someone on her arm, but she sure didn't feel that way.

She knew of a few other single people- Lonnie, Wrong Hordak (who was promptly renamed Kadroh after Entrapta and Hordak's reunion), and Bow to name a few. Bow, her sweet, caring, gentle best friend with his beautiful eyes and bright smile and those _muscles_ from his years of archery. She'd give anything to be with him.

She bolted upright in bed. Wait, maybe she _could_ be with him! He was single, and a tiny part of Glimmer could only hope and wish and _dream_ that it meant he was waiting for her.

 _Waiting for Glimmer_. The thought sent her head spinning and her heart into overdrive. She jumped down the steps of her bed quickly and rushed out the door, too deep in her focus to even think of teleporting as an option.

She ran down corridor after corridor, barely proccessing the "Where's the fire, Sparkles?" Catra teasingly threw her way.

Glimmer finally came to a halt seeing Bow in the courtyard, looking as handsome as she'd ever seen him while practicing his archery with some mechanical moving targets Entrapta had gifted to him after the war to help him keep his skills sharp without enemies to battle.

"Bow!" She called as her legs carried her over, startling her archer into an adorable squeak as he missed the target and hit a tree behind it.

"Yeah, Glimmer?" He held a hand over his heart as he turned to her to indicate his surprise. Bow was grinning at her so sincerely, so beautifully that Glimmer momentarily forgot how to speak.

"I-I wanted to ask you something." She blurted, not really having a plan in mind for how to say any of this as she just let her confidence and adrenilne push the words out for her and hope they came out the way she wanted- needed- them to.

"Sure." Bow turned for a moment to set his bow and quiver down, turning off the machine to put all of his focus on her. Glimmer loved that about him, how he always paused what he was doing to listen to anyone that needed an ear or a shoulder or hand.

"I... Do you want to play the question game?" She asked, confusing even herself as she hadn't even thought about their game until she suggested it.

Bow chuckled and grinned at her, quirking a brow in the cutest way possible. "The question game?"

"Y-Yeah. Do you want to play? Just one round." She asked, cursing herself internally for the hint of desperation in her tone.

Bow nodded and waited for her to begin as Glimmer took a deep breath before forcing the words out while screwing her eyes shut.

"Will you go out with me?" She blurted, fists clenched at her sides and back stiff and straight as she kept her eyes shut as tight as possible.

One second passed, then two. Oh stars, he wasn't responding. Why wasn't he responding?

"Can I ask a question?" Bow finally answered in possibly the softest tone she'd ever heard him use.

Glimmer stayed silent, having apparently used up all of her words when asking her own question.

Taking her silence as a yes, Bow continued. "Can I kiss you?"

Glimmer's eyes snapped open just in time to see Bow leaning in, eyes already closed before their lips pressed together. It felt like fireworks, just like Adora had described her kiss with Catra. That's when she knew, Bow really and truly was the love of her life.

She wrapped her arms around his neck when she felt Bow starting to pull away, pressing forward to keep their lips together as her eyes finally closed.

He rested those strong, soft hands against her cheeks and it felt ten- no, a hundred- times better than she ever imagined. They were warm and smooth and Glimmer nearly melted to goo in them as they kissed.

Eventually they did part, both with stars in their eyes as the world seemed to come back into focus and Glimmer could finally hear sounds over the pounding of her own heart again.

"I love you." They both said simultaneously, pausing to share a flustered laugh.

"Stars, why'd we waste so much time?" Bow laughed, clutching his stomach.

"I-I don't know!" Glimmer cackled back, doubling over from her hysterics.

When the laughter finally died down, they looked at each other once more.

Glimmer stepped closer to place a hand on his chest while Bow rested one on her cheek, gazing deep into each other's eyes deeply as they leaned in to share a passionate kiss.

They were both so hopelessly wrong the entire time, worried about unrequited love that wasn't even unrequited. Now, they could finally be happy. Together.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I promised you Glimbow but I'm obsessed with Glimfuma and I wanted an excuse to write a little bit of jealous Bow I'm sorry XDD


End file.
